[Forum Game] - World in Revolution: 1900

Shortly after the 1912 Olympic Games, the rather quiet offices of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) were flooded by an unexpected surge of activity due to the announcement of the Second World Cup; to be held in 1914.

Therefore, while in 1910 there weren't enough teams to fill the Cup's calendar, now there were too many, as the Cup's announcement sparked a wave of new Federations that claimed recognition and a spot. Quickly a debate arose between FIFA's founders (France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland) and the other members, as the former wanted to be automatically qualified and the latter wanted all the places to be open for all the members. This argument dragged on for most of the year, until an agreement was reached that in the 1918 Cup all the spots would be open and in 1914 the founders would retain their status. Another source of trouble came when the United Kingdom wanted to secure places not only for the 4 founding associations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) but for all the 7 Federations of the Empire (including the Dominions of Canada, South Africa and Australia). Finally, it was agreed that 4 of the Federations would face each other in order to get a spot.

Regarding the location, the initial long list of candidates was finally boiled down to two: Sweden (in light of its successful games of 1912) and Germany (in light of its recent Olympic Championship). However, the voting got caught in a deadlock soon, as none would reach the mandatory unanimity. Then, the Danubian Federation emerged as a third candidate that all members could agree to and the Tournament was granted to them. The main venue would be Vienna, while Prague, Budapest and Zagreb would each host a group. As expected, the selection of the Danubian Federation sparked great controversy, considering their recent economic situation. When confronted, FIFA's British President, Daniel Burley Woodfall simply stated "FIFA believes Vienna will make it"



This World Cup featured many firsts for the Competition, including:

• Qualifiers: Within the Commonwealth, Scotland kept its spot facing Canada; Ireland did the same against South Africa and Australia secured Wales' spot. In Europe, Italy wins a small tournament featuring Greece, Turkey and Russia. The United States of America beat Central America in chilly Chicago, and in sunny Rio, Brazil came on top facing Uruguay and Chile.
• Standardized Ball: A German manufacturer was hired by FIFA to provide all the balls used; using the same design made of vulcanized rubber and leather
• Uniforms: All teams had their unique uniform and colors. In the 1910 Cup, many of them only wore a colored or white cotton shirt to tell each other. This also helped to create some of the nicknames, like les bleus for France.

The 16 teams were divided into 4 groups:

Group A - Vienna (Franz Joseph Stadium, 57,500 spectators):
Argentina (Last Host), Danubian Federation (Host), Ireland (Commonwealth Qualifier), Australia (CQ)

Group B - Prague (Letná Stadium, 24,000 spectators):
Italy (European Qualifier), Sweden, Denmark, France

Group C - Zagreb (Stadion Koturaška, 15,000 spectators):
Germany (Olympic Champion), Spain, USA (North American Qualifier), Switzerland

Group D - Budapest (Sárkány Stadion, 17,500 spectators):
England (1910 Champion), Brazil (South American Qualifier), Scotland (CQ), Netherlands

For the tournament, the Danubian Federation assembled a truly multicultural team, with Austrians, Czechs, Magyars and Croatians playing together in what was hailed as a symbol of the new Federation. The Vienna Stadium was purposely built for the Cup and named in homenage of the recently deceased Emperor. All the other venues were already used by local teams and received many modifications. To accommodate the delegations and visitors, all the hotel beds in the venues were booked in advance by the Organizers.



The opening match took place in August 2nd, when 50,000 Viennese saw their multicultural team be defeated 3 - 2 by the last host Argentina. During the following 10 days, all the Group stage matches would take place.

By the end of the week, heavy rainfall and the toll of the matches rendered the fields, particularly Prague's Letná Stadium, into a bog. In this particular case, the Organizers quickly secured a nearby field, at a great price, to hold Group B's 2 final matches: France (1) - Sweden (4) and Italy (3) - Denmark (0). Spectators decided to take the change of scenery with a light mood and these two matches became massive picnics in the open air, while observers attacked the Organizer's lack of foresight on the matter.



The final stage began after a week of rest, on the 17th. In a tough match, the Danubian squad collapsed under the thrust of a determined Italy. Germany reaffirmed its strong candidacy by defeating a young Brazil and the 1910 champions, England in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Argentina's individual skill sent the collective Swedes home. The final match was held on the 23rd of August, in front of a record crowd of 60,000 spectators, including the Emperor himself and it represented the clash between what was known as football's first schools of play.

Taking the British positional system as a base, the Germans added their own physical roughness and a tight work on tactics and strategy; each player had a defined role in the field, yet they acted as a single collective body when it came to either attacking or defending; therefore journalists called the team Die maschine, or the Machine for its mechanic precision. On the other hand, Argentina relied on the player's individual skill, to both generate opportunities and to dribble in reduced spaces. Soon after the game started, it all devolved into a battle over the muddy field, which helped the German's more physical play, but the Argentines were able to clear the danger, and even threaten the German goal post with some fast counter-attacks. It wasn't until the 68th minute when German striker Gottfried Fuchs was able to score the matches' sole goal, sealing the Machine's one-to-nil victory



After the match was over, the Emperor himself closed the Tournament and handed the trophy to the victors, under the spectator's thunderous applause.



[-156,000K, +50 prestige to Danubian Federation, +50 prestige to Germany, +30 prestige to Argentina, +15 prestige to United Kingdom]

After the unprovoked attack by China to the Russian Empire, a state of war exist between the two nations. Prepare to face your fate, Kingdom of Heaven, for the die has been cast.

We would like to congratulate Germany in relation to their world cup victory. We are amazed at their prowess in kicking around a leather toy and we would like to wish them further successes in such important fields. We believe that through such important events like the recent football cup the world can become a better place. Also, we would like to congratulate our boys in the World Cup. Yes, you did bring shame to the nation with your abysmal failure, but it is important that you tried. The government of Canada encourages all young aspiring athletes to develop their skills both privately and on public occasions. We have achieved tremendous economic and social progress in the last few years and perhaps we will do better in the next sports event.
But primarily this message is addressed to those who were hurt in the recent air disaster. We assure everyone involved that very soon a highly specialized commission will be launched and it's only task will be to find out what exactly happened during the incident. Canada has been a home to some very prosperous aviation firm, so as you would guess we are very dumbfounded as to why such a disaster occurred. But rest assured, we will find out. A team of professionals will be assembled and their studies will aim at not only finding out the cause but also preventing such events in future flight. We have recently experienced a very big budget surplus and soon this money will be hard at work, improving the life of the average Canadian.

The Treaty of Tripoli

1. The signatories agree to the new Borders of the Italian colony of Libya as outlined in the map below.

[X] Victor Emmanuel III, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy

[X] Charles XII, By the Grace of God and the will of the Nation, Emperor of the French

[X] Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on behalf of His Majesty King George V

The United States of America is deeply disturbed by developments in Europe, which serve to curtail the expression of democracy and thus the will of the people. Despite the general wave of authoritarianism, there are some bright spots, in particular the expansion of the suffrage to a greater part of their population, women's suffrage, a movement that I support in our nation.

The war in China is indicative of the current state of affairs in the world, where a power-mongering and intransigent dictator leads his people to the slaughter. A horrible situation that cannot be condoned by any civilized nation.

Domestically, the reopening of the Union Pacific Railroad is an important first step, but more must be done to restore our nation to full prosperity. The "I'm proud to be an American" program is an important signal of the spirit and determination of the American people!

Morrell8 said:

The Kaiser would like to present this treaty for the consideration of signature and the Qing Emperor.

*Originally Posted by German-Chinese Treaty of Friendship and Understanding
-The Qing Emperor shall pay the German Empire a sum of 500,000 pieces of Gold Bullion to reimburse the German Empire for damages to German colonial concessions.
-The Qing Emperor shall endeavour to rein in the excesses of the Boxers against German concessions.
-The German Emperor understands that the Boxers are a nationalist paramilitary faction in China and that the Chinese Government does not have full control over them.

[x]Emperor Wilhelm II, Emperor of the German Empire, King of Prussia, etc, etc.
[X]Xuantong, Emperor of Qing China.

Click to expand...

This is a good day for China friendship with the Germans will help us crush the Other corrupted Western Powers.

Congratulations to our national football team on being glory to Germany following their victory in the 1914 World Cup. The sport of football continues to flourish in our nation as these champions come home to celebrate their well earned victory.

Germans such as them continue to drive and inspire our people to greater innovation and prosperity. Our home industries continue to grow with the stimulus package initiated by the Kaiser that has brought remarkable success as we continue to recover from the depression that came only a few years ago. In addition to this growth in the industrial sector, two foul Communist ringleaders, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg, have been brought to justice for instigating the violence that threatened to engulf the nation two years ago. Their demise has left the Communist scum too weak and divided to attempt to harm Germany.

Concurrently with these events, the German military continues to improve as theoretical and practical work is undertaken into the use of armoured cars. Along with these advancements for the army, the Imperial Aviation Academy at Köln has started to produce the German military aviation pioneers of the future. These military endeavours will continue to keep the German military in it's position as the strongest military force in the world.

Finally, we sign this treaty with Qing China so that cooler heads prevail over hawks. Boxer attempts to attack the concessions will be swiftly crushed. We steadfastly want to be the friends of the Chinese, but, sadly, the xenophobic Boxers hamper these attempts. Regardless, we will do our best to improve our relations with the beleaguered Chinese.

Shock3r said:

The Treaty of Tripoli

1. The signatories agree to the new Borders of the Italian colony of Libya as outlined in the map below.

[X] Victor Emmanuel III, by the Grace of God and the Will of the Nation, King of Italy

[] Charles XII, By the Grace of God and the will of the Nation, Emperor of the French

[X] Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on behalf of His Majesty King George V

Click to expand...

[X] Charles XII, By the Grace of God and the will of the Nation, Emperor of the French

GM: To better model the dynamics of the commonwealth, the Foreign Policy and the War Orders/Defense spending of the Dominions will be under the control of the UK.

OOC : Yes, i'm back, fear me, boo!

((Interesante; I've already sent orders to Etranger... do I need to resend them, and to whom?))

((Gracias, mi amigo. Orders will be in tonight))